Animated decorative device



Feb.. -21, 195o J. D. WEBBER ANIMATED DECORATIVE DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 19, 1946 IN VEN TOR. 1571,72 Z7l Zeer Feb. 21, 1950 1 D, WEBBER 2,498,467

ANIMATED DECORATIVE DEVICE Filed NOV. 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Shea?l 2 NVENTOR. ohn I), Webber* BY @OWG Patented Feb. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES ATENT oFFlcE John D. Webbenlortland, Greg., .aSSignor of onehalf. to .WilliamA Cole, ancouver, Wash.

yApplication November 19, 1946, Serial N0. 710,883

(Cl. ,272-..-3l)

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to yanimated decorative devices of which an illustration is an .animated representation of an angel or of Santa C1aus,.fapplied to a Christmas tree for ornamental yand decorative purposes.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of an animated device of fthe general character described which engages in life-like movements throughthe air, and whichiappears to engage in such movements wit-houtany supporting or driving mechanism. From a Areasonable distance the representation 4of an angel or of Santa .Claus or of any other being lor object, appears to float through the vair by means- ,of some internal force, and it appears further `to engage .in ya considerable number 'of different types of movement without yany apparent cornpelling force causing ,such;movements.

Another object of this invention 4sthe .provision of an animated device of the character described whichis .ofexceedingly simple construction and whichmay unobtrusively be fastened yto a Christmas tree -by means of a feWi-simplecla-mp members.

Referring now to the drawing which shows a.

preferred embodiment of the invention .in which- Fig. 1 is a side view .of such preferredembodiment showing how it is applied tofa Christmas tree;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal `section substantially on the line 2-2 ,of Fig. l, showinginvelev-ation the driving mechanism of the device and one of the clamping members by which Asaid device vis fastened to the tree trunk;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective AviewQf the device;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view, partly in Vertical section, of the bearing of the device and more particularlyof a form of bearing which is adapted to produce an undulating movement-of the angel or other representation; and

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing somefof the dier- `ent paths of movement of the vrepresentation of an angel provided by this device.

The invention herein claimed may be adapted to a great many uses; decorative, ornamental and also commercial. It Vmay be used, forexampia for advertising purposes in a ydepartment store or as an animated decoration Vat a party. yI t may be used at Christmas time in vthe manner indicated in the drawing, or for other festive occasions such as Halloween where, ,for example, a representation of a Witch riding una broommay be caused to `float around ther-.ocin- 'bc bodiment .of the invention lshown in the .drawing, thereforashould be understood to be solely `illustrative of the great many `applications of which thisinvention is susceptible.

The constructional features of the invention as shown rin the drawing and as hereinafter described may, however, be used in connection with each `and all .of these applications. But, even these. constructional features are illustrative rather :than definitive :of the invention.

The invention herein `claimed comprises la driving :mechanism I0, a wire Il connected to said driving mechanism, a wire support l2 having a wire bearing i3, e. very thin strand of nylon or other material -I4 .connected to the free end :of :the wire l I, andthe representation l5 of an angel .axed to the free end of the nylon strand.

The supporting member liz may have a plurality of clamp .members i6 connected thereto for fastening the same to a ,Christ-mas tree I1 or to ,.-anyother suitable object.

Vto the wire Il which .in the preferred embodiment is simply an Aordinary piano wire which iSiSprung at itsiree end into arcular shape. This are be seen especially in Fie. 1. The unsprung portion yof the Wire is carried within the Supporting column l2, said column comprising a tubular member or a steel rod having a bore hole extending through `its longitudinal axis. This tubular-member is packed with graphite or grease sothat relatively little vfriction `is experienced between the wire and the inner Wall of the tubular neemt-ier.

.A packing cap or gland 2U is provided at the bottom of the-tubular member andthe bearing I3 is provided at its 4top end. vThis bearing, as will `be apparent from Fig'. .5, isadapted to serve as a .nackinggland in addition to serving as a bearing.

It will be noted in ;Fig..5 that the 'hole extending through the bearing has a diameter at its lower end lcericssondine substantially t0 the :diameter of vthe Wire, :and that at the upper-end the hole iiares outwardly unt-il it yassumes va funnel-like shape- .,Althoueh the crosssectonal shape of the 4lool@ at `its Alower end is .perfectly circular, the lippe: @liars-d fend assumes a wav-.v or ,undulating from.

3 shape. More specically in the form shown in Fig. 5, a pair of raised portions are provided between a pair of valley-like portions. This uneven bearing surface provides very interesting effects as will hereinafter become apparent.

The device herein claimed is affixed to a suitable support such as tree I I in the manner shown in Fig. l by means of clamp members I6. A clamp such as 30 may also be used to fasten the device to the tree. It will be noted in Fig. 3 that clamp member 30 is really a bracket in addition to being a clamp which supports column I2 upon the casing enclosing the driving mechanism I0. The column I2 is positioned as shown in the drawing in upright position, its upper end, and more particularly the bearing I3 at its upper end, clearing the top of the tree.

'I'he represent-ation I5 of an angel is suspended from the free end of the wire II by means of l' the thread or strand I4, above described. The Yrepresentation or gure of the angel is thereby enabled to move relatively to the wire II. The strand or thread I4 permits such movement, but of course such movement is limited in accorda ance with the length of said thread.

When the motor of the driving mechanism I is connected to a suitable source of electric current by means of conductor 3 I, the driving mechanism causes the wire II to rotate at the predetermined low speed within the column I2. The free end of wire II, however, engages not only in movement of rotation, but also and simultane-` ously vtherewith in movement of revolution. Since said free end of wire II is pre-fashioned or sprung into arcuate shape, an unevenv twist or torque will be produced in the wire which at times during its course around the tree, will un` twist and produce a relatively faster motion than would otherwise be produced by the driving mech- -anism itself. This uneven twist has the effect of causing the sprung end of the wire to come to a relatively complete stop following such relatively faster motion, until the unsprung and more particularly the lower end of the wire catches up with the sprung end.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that as the wire II and more particularly its sprung end twists and turns and slows down and speeds up, and moves upwardly and then downwardly, the

`figure of the angel will engage in corresponding movements. But, in addition to these movements the iigure being suspended from `a very thin thread or strand of nylon material, will engage in a series of movements in addition to the movements-imposed upon it by the moving, twisting The bearing I3 also contributes to the severalv diierent movements and gyrations of the sprung end of the wire and of the iigure suspended there- It` has previously been stated that the bearing is provided with alternately high and low bearing surface portions. An undulating effect is thereby produced upon the wire II as it rotates and as its sprung end revolves about the column I2.

more particularly with the natural colors of-the tree. The wire I I is a relatively thin wire which cannot ordinarily be discerned in light-softened surroundings and of course the thread or strand of nylon I4 is even less discernible in such surroundings. The net result of using such color scheme and a wire and thread of such dimensions is to conceal the entire device, exclusive of the figure of the angel. A remarkable effect is produced therefore when the device is used in the surroundings above described, because the iigureof the angel appears to float in mid air without any tangible supporting means.

It has already been indicated that the embodiment above described is but a preferred embodiment of the invention. It is solely illustrative and it may be modiiied in a great many ways to produce diierent eiiects. For example, the wire I I has been described as a piano wire. Obviously any other type of spring wire may be used for the same purpose. The particular contours of the 'bearing surface shown in Fig. 5 are not crucial and a different type of bearing may be used to the same advantage.

The column I2 as shown in Fig. 3 appears to be of a relatively rigid unbending nature, but it will be appreciated that the wire II may be encased in any other desirable kind of supporting casing such as iieXible tubular members used in flexible wire drives. Where the unsprung part of the wire is suiiciently stiff and unbending to support itself in desired position, a supporting tube may be dispensed with. Where desired the nylon strand or thread I4 may also be eliminated from the structure. The essential features of the invention therefore'may be listed as follows: A

l partly sprung wire, a drive mechanism causing from the casing is pre-sprung into the shape of eiiect may be obtained by introducing the sprung end of the wire into the casing and leaving the unsprung end extending outwardly from the casing. The unsprung end of the wire would assume an arcuate shape Vas shown in Fig. 1 by virtue of the weight of the iigure upon it. The torsional twists and turns above described will be caused by the confined sprung end of the wire. But, in such construction the casing must not be too closely coniining with respect to the sprung portion of the wire.

I claim:

l. A device of the character described comprising a spring wire one end of which is sprung into arcuate shape, a vertical tubular casing enclosing the unsprung portion of said wire, said wire passing through bearings at both ends of said casing, the top bearing opening having an.

enlarged irregular periphery on which the arcuate portion of the wire rides as the wire is rotated to cause said arcuate portion to revolve about said casing, a driving mechanism connected to the lower end of said wire for causing ro tary movement thereof, a thin thread connected to the sprung end of said wire, and a decorative device suspended from said thread.

2.'A device in accordance with claim 1 in vwhich clamping members are -provided on the casing whereby said device may be clamped to a REFERENCES CITED supporting post.

3. An animated decorative device which inlgl; Wmg references are of record in the patent.

cludes a length of wlre, a casing surrounding one end of said wire, bearings for the wire at each sr UNITED STATES PATENTS end of the casing,y the other end of the Wire ex- Number Name Date tending byond the Casing and bent ntO an 2,1'- 1 Bolozky et a1 cuate form, a display figure, a thread connecting 1 the gure to the bent end of the Wire, a drive FOREIGN PATENTS motor at the rst mentioned end of the Wire and 10 Number Country Date connected thereto to rotate the same, the bear- 174,797 Great 'Britain am 27, 1922 ing at the end of the casing adjacent the arcuate 236,027 Germany June 27J 1911 end of the Wire having an irregular periphery to guide the adjacent portion of the bent Wire into an irregular path as it is rotated and revolved. 15

JOHN D. WEBBER. 

